


I Love You, Thank You

by RosieToast



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, How it should have been, Kissing, Love, Magic, Near Death Experience, Romance, Vignette, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 04:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12027783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieToast/pseuds/RosieToast
Summary: The happy ending with some minor changes to satisfy my need for:1) Adam's formal introduction2) The appeasing of Belle's wanderlust.





	I Love You, Thank You

Belle was crying for him. Her eyes were red and wet, her face struggling to remain strong and composed although her erratic breathing gave away the grief and panic she was actually feeling. 

He was sure he’d never witnessed anything as beautiful before in his life. 

The corners of his vision were growing dark, he felt colder than he’d been in ten years, and suddenly he couldn’t even keep his paw raised to touch her. He was dying, but it didn’t bother him; he was content in his end. He’d known love, and that’s what the enchantress had been trying to do all along, wasn’t it? 

_I love you, thank you, Belle._

He meant to say it out loud, but he couldn’t see her anymore and he realized these were his final breaths.

Everything was dark and cold and silent and it was terribly scary, but Adam knew he deserved some retribution for his crimes as a man. He let himself slip away more and more, and then there was a brilliant light. Perhaps God had found a way to forgive him, perhaps it was the doorway to Hell. Either way, Adam embraced it, feeling weightless.

It was the sudden sharp pain that struck his body that finally brought his mind awake. He was dead, wasn’t he? He shouldn’t feel pain. Not this familiar, all-encompassing, bone-splitting pain he could remember from that fateful night so many years ago. 

The pain began to subside and he felt the weightlessness leave him. He finally dared to try opening his eyes, never realizing they’d closed in the first place, and found himself staring at his sty of a room. But what struck him more than the fact that he wasn’t dead, was that his feet were cold. The floor hadn’t registered as cold to him in years, and he immediately glanced down to see very human feet, the sight of which sped up his heartbeat to an almost uncomfortable rate. His hands flew up, and they were indeed hands, human hands, pink and fleshy, which he then used to feel over his torso – no fur – his lower back – no tail – his face – no fangs – and finally head – no horns! Feeling flushed with excitement, he suddenly remembered,

“Belle…!” He whipped around, seeing that she was indeed still there. He knew what all this meant, it made his heart skip delightfully in his chest. She loved him and she’d saved them all. 

But right now she looked uncertain, a little bit frightened by the magic that had she had suddenly born witness to in her moment of grief. She deserved so much credit, though, for looking more confused than scared. 

No wonder he’d fallen in love with her. 

He took a step forward, reaching a hand up tentatively, not wanting to overwhelm her; he couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of whirlwind of emotions was currently blustering within her heart.

Belle took a small step towards him, her gaze slowly dragging from his feet up to his eyes. She studied each part of him, as if looking for proof that what she’d witnessed was a transformation rather than a deceptive demon’s replacement trick. 

He was patient with her even though all he wanted to do was wrap her up in his arms and kiss her and never let her go. 

She came closer and he took the invitation to also sidle closer, now bringing them within arm’s reach. She stared up into his eyes, her expression slowly brightening as she recognized something within him that only she could have. 

“It’s really you…” she breathed, her cheeks growing flushed with her own growing excitement. 

He couldn’t help but blow out a chuckle, “yes…Adam. My name’s Adam.” He blushed, knowing it was strange to only be giving her his name now. 

She chuckled back, reaching out a hand to him, “it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Adam.” She was grinning wider than he’d ever seen.

He couldn’t control his own lips from spreading wide as well, although he did manage to gently take her hand in his and place a light peck on her knuckles, “the pleasure is mine.” He lifted his head, adjusted his grip on her hand, and looked her in the eye, “thank you, Belle,” he just about whispered, still finding it hard to believe this was happening.

“For what?”

“For loving me,” he confessed in a low voice. Upon seeing her surprise and open mouth, a question on her lips, he interrupted with the easiest explanation he could think of, “the only way to break the curse was for me to learn to love another, and earn their love in return. So thank you, Belle, for staying and falling in love with me despite everything.” He used his free hand to caress her cheek, “you saved us all.”

She was grinning at him again, looking like she was about to say something, but instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She wasn’t soft and sweet, no, she was eager and forceful, pouring her feelings into this, their first kiss.

Encouraged by her boldness, Adam moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her neck and deepened the kiss. Somewhere in the background he heard stone moving, metal scraping, and loud bangs, but he was focused on Belle right then, and would take a moment investigate when he was done. 

Maybe tomorrow. 

He was just about to bring her in closer when she pulled away rather suddenly, “do you hear that?” she rushed away from him and onto the balcony. 

He frowned, but noticed immediately that the sun was shining bright in a sweet blue sky, no signs of winter remaining. The room around him was no longer dark and dingy, now restored to bright luxury. He could hear laughter in the distance, very human laughter, and much more than he could remember hearing in a very long time. 

Belle suddenly came running back, grabbing his hand as she went by, “I hear people! I want to go see if everyone’s alright!” 

Adam let her pull him out of his room, out of the West Wing, down the stairs, and into the foyer, but that’s when they both came to a halt. At the bottom of the stairs they paused to take in the sight of countless reunions just beyond the open front doors, and they were both somewhat overwhelmed by the sounds of happy chatter and sobbing. He looked down at Belle who turned her head at the same time. 

She smiled sweetly at him, “are you ready to start a new chapter?”

He laughed his nervousness away, “yes, my love.” He squeezed her hand, knowing it was true so long as he had her by his side.

Looking pleased, Belle took the first step forward and lead him out the door, into the warm summer day. 

For the first time since he was a boy, Adam was filled with hope, and he fully indulged in the feeling as it washed over him.

There was dancing every day for a week after that. Everyone was so excited to be human again they couldn’t help but celebrate over and over. And while he danced, Adam would keep his eyes on Belle, and when they twirled together, they planned out their future. 

“And then we’ll visit fair Verona,” he teased while the danced.

“And then we can venture to Asia,” she dreamed out loud, clearly too caught up in thoughts of adventure to care much for his jab. 

He brought her in closer, “anywhere you want to go,” he promised her.

The look she gave him then assured him everything he’d been through had been worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, Belle has an entire song about wanting more from life, but is happy to be a wife who never goes anywhere? Nuh-uh, I want to at least hear them talk about all the exotic places they'll visit, gee-wiz!


End file.
